TIPPERARY are being talked about as potential All-Ireland champions after their latest Munster title bur boss Liam Sheedy is adamant the 2-21 to 0-19 win over Clare in Limerick on Sunday wasn’t as easy as it looked. “No, it didn’t feel easy at all,” claimed the Tipp manager. “In the first half we got that little bit of a cushion but in fairness they had 10 wides. I’m sure Clare will be disappointed with some of the chances they put wide.
“In the second half we came out and kicked on a bit again, but credit to Clare. They came back at us, and even though they didn’t score a goal, they brought it back to five points.
“I suppose John O’Brien’s goal was the changing of the game — all of a sudden it was eight points, though Clare had done all the hurling. They could have had a goal at the end — Brendan Cummins made a great save.”
The Tipp players will now wait five weeks for the All-Ireland semifinal and Sheedy added, “Whoever we play will be after two tough matches and they’ll be on a high.
“But the lads deserve a break now and will go back to their clubs. I can’t speak highly enough of them, and the work they do. I’ve complimented their attitude and while you’ve no shortage of lads willing to run them down, they show great attitude. They enjoy what they’re doing and I’m delighted for them.
“These lads are level-headed. They’ll go back to the clubs for championship games and in the meantime we’ll be working like tigers to get them ready for Croke Park.”
Clare go into the qualifiers with manager Mike McNamara insistent that their season is far from over.
McNamara said, “We’re not going back where we were at all. Clare hurling is on a level now and we’re up with the best. We mightn’t always prove it, but we’re going to be there or thereabouts before the year is out.
“You couldn’t have the luxury of the amount of wides we had and expect to win a Munster championship — and a Munster final in particular.
Tipp’s goal scorer O’Brien collected the man of the match award just over two years after a serious car accident threatened his career.
“That was a tough road back but it’s a great feeling now to be part of this panel,” said O’Brien. “The injuries were bad but I always wanted to get back, always wanted to give myself time to get back and I did. I broke the hip but I did everything right in rehab and its fine now. Training is giving me no trouble, I’ve got through the last six months without injury.”
Galway Wins
RISING star Cormac Bane is adamant that Galway won’t fear anyone in the All-Ireland quarterfinals after winning their first Connacht title in three years with a narrow 2-12 to 1-14 win over Mayo in Sunday’s Castlebar final.
Bane insisted, “We’re as good as anyone else left in the competition. Obviously Kerry were going to be favorites, but when Cork beat them it just showed everyone else in the country that they are beatable.
“Cork are in an All-Ireland quarterfinal. We are as well, but we’re not going to fear anyone going to Croke Park. We’re full of confidence. Connacht was our bread and butter though, and we’re going to celebrate this one.”
Galway captain Padraic Joyce is also confident ahead of the quarterfinal date in Croke Park. “I’m looking forward to it, but I hope they’ve narrowed the pitch since I was there — it might suit me!” laughed Joyce.
“We haven’t won a game there in a couple of years, so we’ll be hoping to play up there and get to a semi-final if we can.”
Boss Liam Sammon was also pleased with his team’s first championship win at McHale Park since 1987. “Any time you can win, it certainly stands to you, particularly down here in Castlebar. It is a very difficult place to win in,” said Sammon.
“The performance was up and down, nip and tuck and both teams complemented each other. We let it slip a little bit at one stage and we were unable to win any sort of breaks in the middle of the field and we were struggling. I know Mayo will be disappointed, but God help the team they meet in the qualifiers.”
Mayo will now enter the qualifying series with manager John O’Mahony adamant they will make the most of it.
“Neither Galway our ourselves wanted the qualifier route. But it’s the only route open to us now and we’ll have to take it and grab it with both hands,” said O’Mahony.
“The key to it is to get back and win a match. We really only have one match whereas the team we play has two matches. We will deal with that as best we can.”
Limerick Loses
RICHIE Bennis wants to remain on as Limerick hurling manager despite the shock 3-19 to 0-18 loss to an unfancied Offaly in the All-Ireland qualifiers last Saturday night.
Fans booed Limerick off the pitch but Bennis insisted, “I’m not going to pull out, I’m happy to stay with the set-up and help Limerick in any way I can. If they can get a better man, well and good, I have no problem with that either.
“We didn’t perform today, some of our men that got All-Stars last year didn’t perform today. I won’t knock them because they gave us a great year last year. Whether we can recover now is another thing. We have to try. I’m very disappointed.
“There’ll have to be some big soul searching because we prepared as hard as for any match last year and we didn’t underestimate Offaly. Offaly hadn’t hurled like that against Kilkenny but let’s be realistic about it, Kilkenny were a better opposition than us and we have to be honest about it, how good are we?”
Offaly now play Waterford and manager Joe Dooley admitted: “It’s a great boost for all those young fellas. We have a lot of players 23 or younger and it’s a good tonic now.
“We got off to a good start and the two early goals by Joe Bergin gave us a great tonic. We hurled a lot better this time round on the best surface we have played on all year. We took our scores well. We had 10 or 11 under 21 players in action by the finish.”
Defender Diarmuid Horan is a major doubt for the Waterford clash after he was stretchered off with an ankle injury.
Geraghty Confident
MEATH star Graham Geraghty may have surrendered his Leinster championship dream to Wexford last month, but he sees little chance of the underdogs upsetting the applecart when they play Dublin in Sunday’s Leinster football final.
Geraghty said, “I just can’t see how Wexford can stop Dublin from winning another Leinster title. When I think back on our game against Wexford, we absolutely destroyed them in the first half and I’ve a feeling that the Dublin forwards will do exactly the same on Sunday.
“If they do manage to build up a big lead like we did, I can’t see Dublin being reeled in. They have far too much experience for that to happen to them and if I was to give a prediction, it would be Dublin to win by at least seven or eight points.
“The Wexford full back line is extremely poor and the full back in particular could be in for a roasting if the Dublin forwards are on a good day.”
Dublin, meanwhile, look set to restore Ciaran Whelan to their midfield for Sunday’s Leinster final clash.
Cork Wins
CORK have a lot of work to do ahead of the All-Ireland qualifier against Galway after stuttering to a 1-17 to 0-15 win against Dublin on Saturday night, a win which did not impress manager Gerald McCarthy.
When reporters asked if he was pleased with the performance McCarthy blasted, “Absolutely not. We know that, and the lads will have to up their performance, but having said that, our training has been geared towards making the latter stages, so maybe some lads were a bit weary from the extra training.
“That’s not taking anything away from Dublin, they did well but we need to improve. It was too close for comfort.”
Dublin boss Tommy Naughton said, “The result was disappointing. We didn’t get the hiding that a lot of people might have expected us to get. It might have been different if we’d taken our chances.
“We’re still lacking drive. We’re going to have to go through more pain. Cork kept their heads when it was vital to keep their heads, and they completed their tasks when they had to complete their tasks.”
Galvin’s Dispute
KERRY captain Paul Galvin was scheduled to appear before the GAA’s Dispute Resolution Authority on Tuesday night in his latest appeal against a six-month ban. Dublin defender Colin Moran is also to appear before the group in a bid to have his month long suspension overturned ahead of Sunday’s Leinster final clash with Wexford.
There was better news for Kerry when the Central Hearings Committee overturned the red card handed out to Mark O Se in the Munster final defeat to Cork.
GAA Shorts
DERRY goalkeeper Barry Gillis is still an injury concern ahead of Saturday’s big football qualifier against Monaghan, with defenders Sean Marty Lockhart and Liam Hinphey also doubtful. Michael McGoldrick and Joe Keenan are definitely ruled out . . .
SHANE O’Rourke will return to the Meath team for Saturday’s All-Ireland football qualifier against Limerick, but Anthony Moyles, Shane McAnarney and Kevin Reilly will all miss the trip south . . .
TIPP full-back Paul Curran is to have a scan on the shoulder injury which forced him out of Sunday’s Munster final win over Clare but could be fit for the All-Ireland semifinal . . .
DOWN forward Paul McComiskey will miss the All-Ireland qualifier with Offaly on Saturday with a back injury that could rule him out for the season . . .
FORMER GPA official Donal O’Neill is the driving force behind a new proposal to establish an Irish-dominated Australian Rules team in Sydney . . .
TIPPERARY will be without both Aidan Foley and Seamus Grogan for Saturday’s All-Ireland football qualifier against Westmeath at Ardfinnan . . .
MICK O’Dwyer is to remain as manager of the Wicklow footballers for at least another year.
OTHER weekend results – Munster MHC final, Cork 0-19 Tipperary 0-18; Connacht MFC final, Mayo 0-10 Roscommon 0-7.
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